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DT 104 
.B5 
1837 
Copy 1 




Biographic sketch 



PACHA OF EGYPT, SYRIA, AND ARABIA, 



CITY OF WASHINGTON, March, 1837. 



P. Force, Printer. 

V 






N^ 



BIOGRAPHIC SKETCH. 



Mohammed Ali Pacha was bom in the year of the 
Hegira, 1 182, corresponding, in the Christian era, to the 
year 1769. It is not unworthy of remark, that this year, 
also, gave birth to Napoleon Buonaparte. Alike distin- 
guished for military genius, the characters of these chief- 
tains are equally marked by insatiate ambition, and unre- ' 
posing activity. 

Early education, the advantages of science, and a more 
prominent field of enterprise, have given to the history of 
one an eclat and brilliancy of success which are denied to 
the other. Yet, he who would learn to read and write, at 
the age of forty-five, as did Mohammed Ali, and from the 
humble calling of tobacco vender, rise to the throne of an 
extensive Empire, can be no ordinary man, and may bear 
some comparison with the Hero of France. 

With a disciplined army of 50,000 men, a navy of nine 
line-of-battle ships, and a revenue of twenty millions of dol- 
lars, he may be supposed to have the means of consolida- 
ting his power, of establishing his dynasty, and of maintain- 
ing°his de facto independence. He desires to raise Egypt 
to°the level of European civilization, surpassing that of the 
augustan age of El-Mamoun and Haroun el-Rashid. The 
patronage which he gives to arts and science; his encour- 
agement of Europeans of talent ; his printing-presses ; poly- 
technic, elementary, and medical schools ; his factories and 



internal improvements, are evidence of enlightened views 
in civil administration. 

The Pacha is commonly called Mehemet Ali, although 
his name is written Mohammed Ali. Supreme veneration 
for the name of his Prophet, forbids a Mussulman to dese- 
crate the name of Mohammed, by colloquial use ; and there" 
fore this distinction is made in the pronunciation of the name. 
He is also called Hadgi Mohammed, or pilgrim, having per- 
formed his pilgrimage to Mecca, which is one of the five 
great duties of the acolytes of Islam. Among the numer- 
ous ampullated titles, given to him by his courtiers, that of 
Hidivi, or divine, is remarkable. Of the Roman Em- 
perors, Augustus was the first whom clambering adulation 
apotheosised, and associated w^ith divinity. 

Mohammed Ali Pacha, was born at Cavalla, a small 
maritime town of Romelia, in European Turkey. This 
district is renowned in the East, for its aromatic tobacco, 
which rivals that of Latakieh, among the dreamy smokers of 
the oriental chibouque. Cavalla is distant ninety miles to 
the east of Salonica, the ancient Thessalonica, where there 
is now established a Consul of the United States. 

Ibrahim Agha, the father of Mohammed AH, was the 
chief of police in the town of Cavalla. At the death of his 
father, Mohammed Ah being then quite young, the Tchor- 
badgi, or governor of Cavalla, took him into his service. 

An opportunity early presented itself, whilst Mohammed 
was attached to the family of the Tchorbadgi, by which he 
acquired a character for prudence, ingenuity, and bravery. 
A certain village within the jurisdiction of Cavalla, had re- 
fused to pay its usual contributions. The Tchorbadgi was 
undecided as to the most efficient measures to be adopted 
on the occasion, and Mohammed Ali promptly offered his 
services ; they were accepted, and a body of armed men 
was appointed to accompany him. He proceeded to the 



village, and at the hour of prayer, when announced by the 
Muezzin from the minaret, he repaired to tlie Mosque to 
perform his devotions. After having recited liis prayers, he 
sent to request four of the principal Turks of the village, to 
wait on him, under the pretext of important business. 
These persons not suspecting any design upon them, repair- 
ed to the Mosque. Mohammed Ah immediately command- 
ed his followers to seize and bind these chief villagers, who 
were conducted to Cavalla, amidst the threats and pursuit 
of the inhabitants. 

This dashing act of bravery and finesse, resulted in the 
payment of their contributions by the refractory villagers ; 
and the Tchorbadgi was so well pleased with it, that he pro- 
moted the youthful Mohammed to the rank of Bolouk 
Bashee, or captain of a company. He also gave him in 
marriage one of his relations, a widow, by whom he had 
three sons, Ibrahim,, Toussoun, and IsmaeL This marriage 
of a widow has given rise to the report that Ibrahim Pacha, 
the conqueror of Acre and Syria, is the step-son of Moham- 
med Ali. 

Of these three elder sons, Tousson and Ismael Pachas, 
died some years ago. The former conducted a successful 
expedition against the Wahabies of Arabia. A most 
faithful and eloquent history of this formidable sect of Islam, 
is to be found in the popular novel of Anastasius, by the 
late Thomas Hope. Ismael Pacha was commander-in-chief 
of the expedition against Sennaar and Kordofan, where he 
w^as assassinated by one of the subjugated chiefs. A blow 
inflicted on this chief by the Pacha, was avenged by his as- 
sassination. It was this expedition to Sennaar, which Mr. 
George Bethune English, of Boston, accompanied, in a 
military capacity, and an account of which he subsequently 
published. 

Ibrahim Pacha, the remaining son, is now in Syria, with 



a numerous army, reposing upon the laurels acquired in his 
late battles with the Grand Vizier and the Sultan's discip- 
lined troops. 

Mohammed Ali, after his marriage, joined to his military 
profession the trade of a merchant, and became an exten- 
sive dealer in tobacco, the richest product of Romelia. In 
this trade, he acquired his first notions of commercial mo- 
nopoly, to which he has since more strictly adhered than 
comports with sound principles of political economy, or the 
well being of his Egyptian subjects. 

He was soon called to enter upon a wider and more im- 
portant field of enterprise. Napoleon had invaded Egypt, 
and the battle of the Pyramids had defeated the Mamelouks, 
opened the gates of Cairo, and secured possession of the 
country. In 1800, the Sublime Porte, in alliance with 
Great Britain, and aided by her forces, made preparations 
to recover Egypt ; and among the contingents of troops 
required by the Porte, w^as one of three hundred men from 
the district of Ca valla. They were raised by the Tchor- 
badgi, and placed under the command of Ali Agha, his son, 
and Mohammed Ali was appointed to the double office of 
Ali's mentor, and his second in command. Ali Agha soon 
became dissatisfied with the fatigue of camp, and returned 
home, leaving his company under the orders of Mohammed 
Ali. He thus acquired the rank of Bin Bashee in the 
army of the Grand Vizier. 

After the victories of Aboukir, and the camp of Caesar, 
gained by the British troops, the Grand Vizier commenced 
offensive operations. Mohammed Ali, in frequent engage- 
ments with the French divisions, signalized himself by great 
personal bravery, and by military tact, if not by strategic 
science. 

The limits of this sketch, require us to pass over the 
numerous incidents of the Pacha's eventful carreer, during 



which he was alternately applauded and reproved by his 
superiors, until the important period of his election as Gov- 
ernor of Egypt, by a deputation of Scheiks, on the 14th of 
March, 1805. The country was, at that period, a prey to 
intestine war, caused by those petty tyrants the Mamelouk 
Beys. He skillfully evaded or resisted their attacks and 
machinations, and succeeded in obtaining, two months after 
the election, his confirmation as Pacha of Egypt, by the 
Sublime Porte. 

The policy of the British Government at that epoch fa- 
vored the civil dissensions created by the Mamelouk Beys. 
It openly declared itself against the Pacha, and the British 
Ambassador near the Sublime Porte, was instructed to de- 
mand his recall. This demand was supported by the in- 
trigues of ambitious rivals at Constantinople. The present 
Seraskier Pacha, Husref, was then, and continues to be, one 
of the most embittered and untiring enemies of Mohammed 
Ali, to whom he attributes the revolt of the Albanians at 
Cairo, and his subsequent expulsion from the command of 
that capital. 

The Sublime Porte yielded to the compound influence of 
foreign solicitation and domestic intrigue, and Mohammed 
Ali was ordered by an imperial firman to leave Cairo, and 
repair to Salonica, (Thessalonica,) to assume the adminis- 
tration of that Pachalick. He evaded obedience to the 
Padischah's firman, until important services, supported by 
bribes judiciously distributed at Constantinople, induced the 
Sultan to re-appoiiu him to the Pachalick of Egypt. He 
was deemed by the Imperial divan to be the only man 
capable of governing that country, in the critical posture of 
affairs at that period. 

French influence gained the ascendancy in the Ottoman 
councils in 1807, and Great Britain declared war against 
Sultan Selim, and invaded Egypt. Mohammed Ali's troops 



met the British forces at Rosetta, and defeated them. They 
were subsequently compelled to evacuate Alexandria, which 
had capitulated to General Frazer. It w^as at this period 
that the British squadron, commanded by Admiral Sir John 
Duckworth, passed the tremendous batteries of the Darda- 
nelles, and anchored off the city of Constantinople. The 
passage of the Dardanelles by an armed force, had never 
before, and has never since been attempted. It was then 
that the navy of England could ask, quod regio in terrisy 
nostri non plena laboris 1 We may not forget that some 
years before this signal event, our own Captain Bainbridge 
passed the Dardanelles, in his frigate the Washington, and 
displayed for the first time, the star spangled banner in the 
Golden Horn. 

The Sublime Porte was sensible of the important services 
rendered by Mohammed Ali, in the then war with England, 
and received frequent expressions of his Sultan's satisfac- 
tion, in rich and sumptuous presents. He continued to 
preserve his Government against internal foes and foreign 
machinations. The Mamelouk Beys remained in arms 
against him, and carried on a desultory warfare. The 
Mamelouk Elfi Bey, was supported by British influence. 

On the 1st of March, 181 1, Mohammed Ali succeeded 
in destroying the greater part of these refractory Beys, by a 
sanguinary and treacherous act, which has no parallel in any 
annals but those of Eastern empires : it would be so judged 
by the rule of abstract morals ; yet, political necessity would 
sanction it in the East. The Pacha had not then studied 
Machiavelli, which he has in part since read. He had 
succeeded in concihating those Beys to a certain degree, 
and had disarmed their fears and suspicions. About this 
period, the expedition against the Wahabies, the enemies of 
Islam, was preparing to leave Cairo. The departure of this 
expedition was made the occasion of calling together the 



civil and military authorities, under ceremonies becoming 
the occasion. The Mamelouk Beys were also invited to 
join the ceremonies and the procession which was to signa- 
lize the event. They obeyed the invitation, and were re- 
ceived with every demonstration of friendship, and with dis- 
tinction suitable to their rank. Here, then, the Pacha had 
artfully succeeded in assembling, at the citadel of Cairo, the 
chief Mamelouks, to the number of four hundred, those 
early and formidable enemies, both to his personal aggran- 
dizement and to the tranquillity of Egypt. 

The citadel of Cairo, within which, is the Pacha's palace, 
and the dilapidated, but once gorgeous serai of Selah-eddin, 
(Saladin,) rests on a projecting shoulder of Mount Mokat- 
tam. From its frowning ramparts are seen, to the west, and 
beyond the Nile, the towering pyramids of Gizeh, and the 
lesser ones of Sakhara and Dashour ; the allegoric Sphinx 
lies couchant before you, as in centuries gone by, and the 
renowned Memphis is faintly distinguished by the few re- 
mains of her ancient glory, now concealed by clustering 
groves of the graceful palm. Immediately below the ram- 
parts reposes Cairo, the mother of the world, as she is 
called in the figurative language of Arabia, with her popu- 
lous avenues, her tongues of Babel, sumptuous palaces, and 
more splendid mosques and minarets. The silver stream 
of the " blessed^' Nile flows by the walls of Cairo, brineino- 
fertility to the earth, and joy to its people. 

From this citadel, the military procession, lead by Tous- 
soun Pacha, who had been appointed to command the ex- 
pedition against the Wahabies, moved, and in descending to 
the city passed through a narrow passage or defile. On 
either side was the solid rock, surmounted by high w^alls. 
When the Mamelouk Beys had entered this defile, the gates 
at both ends were suddenly closed, and soldiers previously 
stationed for that object, commenced firing upon tliese un- 



10 

suspecting victims of treacherous design. One Bey alone 
escaped from the horrible ambuscade. 

The Pacha, a few years afterwards, replied to an allusion 
made to this dreadful massacre, that it would appear in 
history along with the execution of the Duke d'Enghein, 
by the great chieftain who had then filled the world, with 
the military glory of France. 

An anecdote somewhat ludicrous, connected with this 
tragic scene, may convey some idea of the indifference with 
which human life is regarded in the East, and the apathy of 
the Orientals to human blood. An European Consul asked 
an officer of the Pacha, who was witness to the massacre, if 
his feelings were not shocked. " Yes," he replied, '•' it was 
a pity to see so many rich embroidered dresses, and expensive 
lahores and cashmeres, rolling in the dirt." Another anec- 
dote is told at Constantinople, of a Reis Effendi, who had 
lost his favorite Circassian by the plague. The Dragoman 
of the Austrian internuncio, during an official visit to his 
Excellency, expressed himself in terms of condolence for 
the painful event. " Yes, it was a great loss," said the Ef- 
fendi, " my Ichanum cost me one hundred purses J' 

The successful expedition of the Pacha against the Wa- 
habies, of Arabia, the formidable enemies of the Moslem 
faith, established his reputation as a warrior, hi? claims to 
the consideration of the Sublime Porte, and of the whole 
modern world, and secured his uninterrupted possession of 
Egypt. The war was concluded in 1813, by the capture 
of Deraieh, the Wahaby capital, and of their Chief Ab- 
dallak-ehn'Souhoud, The conduct of the war, which had 
been committed to Toussoun Pacha, was subsequently en- 
trusted to Ibrahim Pacha, Mohammed Ali's eldest son. By 
him the war was brought to a close, and Abdallah-ebn-Sou- 
houd was sent to the Sultan, under the charge of Ismael 
Pacha, together with the few remaining objects of value 



11 

which were recovered from among those which Souhoud's 
father had plundered from the sacred shrines of Mecca and 
Medina. Of these, the most remarkable was a copy of the 
Koran, so small as to have rivalled the Iliiad of Homer, 
which Alexander carried about his person. There were 
also pearls and precious stones of unknown value, which 
pious veneration had bestowed as votive offerings at the 
tomb of the Prophet. Abdallah-ebn-Souhoud was presented 
in chains at the feet of his Sovereign, and Mohammed Ali 
had interceded in his favor, for imperial clemency. Sultan 
Mohmoud was relentless towards the Chief of an heretical 
sect, which had for so many years defied his authority, dese- 
crated the holy places of the Prophet, and interrupted the 
annual pilgrimages of the Moslem world, to the venerable 
Caaba, the waters of Zemzem, and the sacred sepulchre at 
Medina. Souhoud was pubhcly decapitated at Constanti- 
nople, in the open square, which may now be seen by the 
traveller, between the Porte of Sublimity and the Mosque 
of Santa Sophia. 

The Wahabies, as a religious sect, have the same refer- 
ence to the Mohammedan religion, which Socinianism has 
to Christianity. The founder, Abd-ul-Wahab, was born in 
the early part of the last century, and after having studied 
divinity at Medina, and in the Medressehs j or theologie 
schools of Bagdad, Bassorah, and Ispahan ^ he began to 
preach the novel doctrine that the Prophet Mohummed 
was but a mere man, and that to invoke him with other 
saints, was idolatry, and was not authorized by the Koran, 
He adhered religiously to the text of the sacred book, hut 
rejected all traditions, Hadith, and the commentaries of 
the Imams, or Doctors. He contended that Mussulmans 
must be brought back to the original spirit of the Koran, 
to the exclusive worship of God, in his undivided unity. 



12 

In ihis spirit he forbade the pilgrimage to Mecca, the in- 
vocation of the Prophet, the use of luxuries, tobacco, 
opium, silk, and jewels. Following the example of the 
Prophet, he propagated his doctrines with the sword, and 
the armies of his successors marched upon Mecca and Me- 
dina, destroyed those venerable shrines, and robbed them of 
the unnumbered votive offerings with which they had been 
enriched, by piety and devotion. 

Such were the doctrines of this warlike sect, which had 
for a long while contemned the spiritual, and defied the 
temporal authority of the Sultan. 

Relieved from this formidable enemy, Mohammed Ali 
was now at hberty to subjugate the southern provinces of 
Nubia, Sennaar, and Kordofan. These countries had for a 
long time been in a state of anarchy and rebellion to the 
Government of Egypt. He accordingly, in 1820, sent an 
expedition of four thousand men to those countries, under 
the command of his second son, Ismael Pacha, which re- 
sulted in the entire conquest of those extensive provinces, 
with which. Egypt has always had an important commerce. 
It was this expedition, which our countrymen, English, ac- 
companied. Khalil Agha, of New- York, was also attached 
to the army. We have another instance of the adventurous 
spirit of Americans, in one, who is at this moment Governor 
of a District, within the territories of the Indian Prince, 
Runjeet Sing. 

The Greek revolution commenced about this time, and 
Mohammed Ali prepared to obey the Suhsin^s firmans, and 
to furnish aid in troops, sliips, and money. Whilst he op- 
posed the movement of the Greeks, and contributed his 
efforts towards the suppression of their rebellion, it must be 
said in honor of his humanity, and in praise of his enlight- 
ened policy, that he did not imitate the massacre of these 



13 

unfortunate subjects who were residing at Constantinople. 
No Greek subject in Egypt was molested, and those who 
fled to that country were protected. 

The friends of Greece in Europe did not so much fear 
the hostihties of the Sultan, as of the Pacha, in its struggle 
for independence. It is believed that this sentiment in- 
duced some of the greater cabinets, to hold out to the Pacha 
the possibility of his independence, to withdraw him from 
combined operations with the Porte. Whether he distrust- 
ed Christian diplomacy, or was content to enjoy his de facto 
independence, he yet continued to furnish the principal 
means of operation against the Morea. The policy of 
European cabinets was for once imperfectly understood, 
and pertinacity caused the loss of the Egyptian squadron 
at Navarino, and the retirement of Ibrahim Pacha's legions 
from the Peninsula. 

The declaration of war against Russia, in 1828, by the 
Sultan, was made contrary to the counsel of Mohammed 
Ah, and its result confirmed the wisdom of that advice. 
Causes of jealousy and dissatisfaction towards his Pacha, 
continued to multiply in the mind of the Sultan, which 
found ostensible motives in the attack which Mohammed All 
made upon Abdallah Pacha, of St. Jean d'Acre, in 1831. 
The immediate origin of this war, was the protection which 
the Pacha of Acre gave to the fugitive subjects of Egypt. 
Mohammed Ali asked not the intervention of the Porte, 
although he was equally its vassal with Abdallah Pacha. 
On the refusal of the Pacha to obey the mandate of the 
Porte, and to withdraw his troops from Syria, he was offi- 
cially denounced by the Sultan as a rebel and outlaw. This 
sentence of excommunication from the Caliph or head of 
Islam, has as much force now, as had that of the Pope in 
the feudal ages. 

The Sultan sent his forces into Syria, under command of 



14 

Hussein Pacha, Beglerbeg of Anatolia, to oppose the ad- 
vance of Ibrahim Pacha. Hussein was beaten in pitched 
battle, and driven from Damascus to Horns, thence to 
Aleppo, and across the Taurus to Koniah. At this place 
the Grand Vizier, Reshid Mehemet Pacha, was made pri- 
soner in a sanguinary action, and the whole army of the 
Sultan became demoralized. Ibrahim Pacha might have 
marched upon Constantinople, but for the intervention of 
an armed Russian force, to protect the capital, and for the 
interference of European diplomacy. 

In the city of Kutahieh, of Asia Minor, in the spring of 
1833, the commissioners, envoys of England, France, and 
Russia, concluded an armistice and convention, for the 
evacuation of Anatolia. By this convention, with the con- 
sent of the Porte, Mohammed Ali received his confirmation 
to the whole of Syria, comprising the four pachalicks of 
Aleppo, Tripoli, Damascus, and Saida, together with the 
province of Adana, which is of primary importance to 
Egypt, on account of its timber. The news of peace 
was received at Alexandria with demonstrations of public 
joy, and were attended with every species of festivity. 
The Pacha was compared to the " Alexander of two 
hornsJ^ 

The negotiations that took place, and diplomatic notes 
that passed between Mohammed Ali and Admiral the Baron 
de Roussin, ambassador of France at the Porte, exhibit the 
true character of the former. He replied, in answer to the 
requisition of the Baron to withdraw his troops from Ana- 
tolia, " is not this pronouncing against me a sentence of 
" political death ? But I feel confident that France and 
" England will not deny me justice. They will acknowledge 
" ray rights. Their honor is opposed to this step. But 
" if I am unhappily deceived in this expectation, I will 
" submit myself, under such circumstances, to the will of 



15 

" God ; and 'preferring an honorable death to ignominy y 
" joyfully devote myself to the cause of my nation, happy 
" to consecrate to it the last breath of my life. Upon this 
" I am determined, and history offers more than one exam- 
'■^ pie of a similar immolation^ 

Mohammed Ali is now in the undisputed possession of 
Syria, Egypt, the Hedjaz of Arabia, Nubia, Sennaar, Kor- 
dofan, and the important Island of Candia. That he will 
transmit his power and empire, unimpaired, to his successor 
in the dynasty, his past history justifies the belief. When 
he was invited to take supreme command in Egypt, thirty 
years ago, he said, " / have now conquered this country 
" with the sword, and by the sword will I preserve it /" 

Mohammed Ali is in person of middling, or rather low 
stature. He is now in his sixty-seventh year, and possesses 
a constitution sound and vigorous. His features are not 
those of the Osmanli, of Constantinople, where one may 
frequently find the beau ideal of manly beauty. The Tartar 
face, with its high cheek-bones, small eyes, and general 
flatness, which are peculiarly his, have been lost among the 
Ottomans of the capital, by their marriages with the Greeks 
of Ionia, or the more languishing beauties of Circassia and 
Georgia, His dark grey eyes beam brightly with genius 
and intelligence, and his manners would be marked with 
more dignity had they more repose. It would be difficult 
not to feel the presence of a superior man when one is 
addressing Mohammed Ali. His dress, unlike that of Sultan 
Mahmoud, is not of the nizam, or reform. He still wears 
the turban, which the Sultan has abandoned, and this use 
of a most graceful head-dress, will be approved by all per- 
sons of good taste. This remark applies only to the East. 
His dress is of plain olive colored cloth, without embellish- 
ment or decoration. At his side is always suspended a 
curved scimitar. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 

16 029 966 265 2 

The Pacha is an early riser, and of abstemious habits. 
At the break of day he performs his orisons, and at sunrise 
he repairs to his divan, for the transaction of business. 
After sun-set he dines, and retires to his harem, where he 
either reads himself, or reclines on an ottoman, whilst one 
of his favorite Sultanas, the daughter of a Mufti, and an 
accomplished woman, reads to him, by his instruction. He 
has lately been engaged in reading Montesquieu's Esprit des 
loix, every successive sheet of w^hich, as prepared in man- j 

uscript by the translator, is taken by him to his harem, and I 

becomes the occupation or relaxation of his eveninors. ! 

Macchiavelli he read some years ago, and the Code Napo- 
leon is now the object of his deepest study and reflection. 

This short sketch of the eventful life of Mohammed I 

Aii, is not intended to exhibit the wonderful improvements 
'which he has introduced into Egypt, nor the more wonder- 
ful personal superintendence which he exercises over every 
department of the arts, and every branch of industry. It 
is hoped, that the impetus which he has given to civiliza- 
tion, will not be checked, and that if his de jure indepen- 
dence should, in any manner, contribute to this desirable 
object, the conflicting interests of European and the Turk- 
ish cabinets, may be conciliated, and be directed to concur 
in such an acknowledgment. 

Washington, March 10, 1837. 



Hoi 



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029 966 265 2 



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